Undeceptions with John Dickson

The Acts of the Apostles is the epic sequel to Luke's Gospel. It follows the dramatic events immediately after the resurrection of Jesus, and follows how the first Christians - led by perhaps the most unlikely person - took the news of the Messiah to the edges of the Roman Empire - and beyond. (00:10) - - A Biblical sequel (04:50) - - The genre of Acts (10:33) - - Luke (21:36) - - Gallio (27:28) - - A Roman World (33:34) - - The first evangelists (38:01) - - Acts 17 (48:31) - - Five Minute Jesus (51:04) - - The true myth (01:00:17) - - How did Christianity spread? (01:07:48) - - Imperial faith (01:13:20) - - The end of Acts (01:18:14) - - The meaning of it all

If we’re talking only about liquids you drink—because the water in the Bible is washed in, crossed over, and even walked on once—wine is no.1.Wine appears more than 200 times in the Bible. And almost all of them are positive references—not critiques. Christianity has a long, rich history with wine. But oftentimes, we’ve made it much more complicated and, at times, harmful.(00:00) - Chapter 1 (02:36) - - Wine in the Bible (04:52) - - Meeting Gisela (09:16) - - Different drinking cultures (13:32) - - Alcohol in America (17:54) - - Wine in the Old Testament (25:39) - - Jesus and the wedding of Cana (29:33) - - 5 Minute Jesus (37:22) - - Early Christianity and wine (43:00) - - Monks, nuns, and booze (50:38) - - When to stop drinking (53:25) - - Drinking as a sin (59:21) - - Holy tipsiness (01:03:30) - - Alcoholism (01:06:34) - - The Godliness of wine

There's just something about the Virgin Mary. She stirs up big feelings - she has for millennia. Some have perhaps given her more prominence than she would feel comfortable with.Others have hacked down her statues in reforming zeal. Others never think about her, except when they come across a nativity scene in a shopping mall (and even that’s becoming a rarity).So, it’s time we met Mary properly this Christmas. (06:10) - - Mary in the New Testament (08:50) - - Daily life for Mary (13:46) - - The conception of Jesus (18:42) - - Science vs. the Virgin Birth (24:54) - - The Incarnation (32:24) - - Was Mary always a virgin? (43:15) - - Mary as mother (45:44) - - The Magnificat (51:42) - - Mary the prophet (54:16) - - Mary, after the Bible (55:27) - - The Assumption (01:00:54) - - Can Mary hear our prayers? (01:08:01) - - Have we sidelined Mary? (01:11:46) - - Mary for the modern church (01:14:34) - - Christianity and sexism

In the 3rd century, in the Ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, a group of Christians composed a song of praise set to the pagan music of the time. Now, 1800 years later, John Dickson is working with two of the world's best songwriters to bring this lost song - this First Hymn - back to life. Along the way, they make some incredible discoveries about early church music, shedding light on what the earliest Christians believed. This is the first in a three-part podcast series on The First Hymn Project - taking its name from the forthcoming Undeceptions documentary, to be released at Easter 2025. (00:10) - - Singing the First Hymn (06:31) - - How the project began (09:10) - - Music in the ancient world (16:20) - - Christian music in the ancient world (20:22) - - Egyptian Christianity (24:02) - - The Oxyrhynchus discovery (29:24) - - The music of the First Hymn (37:54) - - The message of the First Hymn (46:04) - - Hymns throughout the New Testament (52:39) - - 5 Minute Jesus (58:39) - - The purpose of hymns (01:00:36) - - The First Hymn performed by the Wheaton Choir (01:02:10) - - Connecting Christians through history (01:03:28) - - Chris Tomlin, Ben Fielding, and the First Hymn